Material handling machine



sept. 22, 1953 F. o. PAULsoN MATERIAL HANDLING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet lFiled Aug. 4, 1949 A TTOR/VE V Sept. 22, 1953 F. o. PAULsoN 2,652,695

MATERIAL HANDLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 4, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /N VE NTOR FRANK O. PAULl SON www 711. nl(

ATTRNE Y water.

Patented Sept. 22, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MATERIAL HANDLINGMACHINE Frank'O. Paulson, RidgewoocLN. J. VApplication August 4, 1949,Serial No. 108,570

v (Cl. 61-63) 13 Claims.

This invention relates to material handling machinery and moreparticularly to hydraulic levee building machinery'for building levees,lls and stockpiling along waterways and rivers from solid materialdredged from the'river or lake It is common practice, where naturalconditions permit such Voperations-along waterways and rivers, to buildlevees, make lland iills and build stockpiles of solid material byhydraulically dredgingthese materials from the bed beneath the waterwayor river. The dredge sucks up the solid material with a quantity ofwater and pumps it to the desired location where it-is deposited. Thismixture of solid material and water is called the ffluid mixture and thelevee, lill or stockpile is called the lill The fluid mixture varies indensity and is approximatelyrlOf/b to 15% solids and 85% to 90%Thefsolids usually comprise sand, gravel, clays, silt or a mixturethereof.

Various methods are currently usedrfor handling the fluid mixture. Oneof these methods (-1) is to carry the uid mixture in apipeline supportedon a trestle. Shuttered openings called bleeders `are located ontheunderside of the pipeline. The solid materials, being of greaterdensity than the water, tend to drag along the bottom side of thepipeline and are readily discharged through the bleeders. .When the filllevel is built up underthe pipeline to the desired elevation, thebleeders are closed with theY shutters. Additional bleeder pipe sectionsare added to. the end of the pipeline, thus extending the lill.

Another method (2) is to start the iill with the pipeline raised to thedesired elevation so that all the uid mixtureis discharged from theendof the pipeline. When the fill reaches the, desired elevation, the flowis stopped and additional pipe sections are added toA extend thepipeline.V

Both of the above-mentioned methods have undesirable Yfeatures thatdelay operations and make. unsatisfactory lill.Vv If the trestle andbleeder method is used, the trestle becomes a major expense itemVbecause it is buried under the fill and cannot, be removed. V Moreover,the construction and placement of the trestle V`consumes considerabletime which delays thedredg-H ing operation. These same objectionablefeatures apply to the second method. Also, if the second method is used,the excess water is discharged from the end of the pipeline withconsiderable force. This usually scours and washes away re-v taininglevees. Control ofrtheplacement of the lill is most difficult because ofthe kinetic energy' stored in this excess water. In the second methodthe fluid mixture is all discharged from one opening. The solidmaterials separate from the water and build up a mound' of ll with ahuge crater directly in front of the end of the pipe. Occasionally, theexcess water breaks'out of the crater in a solid stream, causing arapidscouring and washing of the lill. If the Y'retaining levees aredamaged, the fill process becomes unmanageable and the flow must bestopped to reconstruct the levee so the lill will be shaped to thespecified dimensions." Also, the crater makes theV addition ofV pipe,forv extending the pipeline along the fill, diicult because the depth ofthe crater requires trestle'or shoring under the pipe. Excess Water'istrapped in the crater which not only causes the deposited-material tosettle slowly but also delays the drying process ofthe depositedmaterial. i

Various types of spoons have been used at the end of the pipeline inv anendeavor to reduce the dynamic ilowof the fluid mixture and produce amore even distribution of the fill; Although' sorbedY in-the turbulentcrater or in the ll.`

The natural tendency of this released energy is to scour and wash awaythe slopes of the fill.

It is the. object of this invention to overcome the above-describedobjections by' reducing the particle velocity of the liuid mixturewithout reducingits volume rate of flow.

The foregoing Objectis achievedby this in-` vention which provides, incombination with a dredge discharge pipeline,.a pluralityoi buckets ofthe type usedon hydraulic impulse wheels, a means for supporting thebuckets to receive the discharge from the pipeline and movethem, and abrake for controlling the speed of the buckets whereby the particleVelocity of the discharged fluid mixture is reduced Without.V reducingthe volume rate of ovv.` The nozzle'of the pipeline is made angularlyadjustable to control the direction of deposit of the fluid mixtureoverA selected areas of the ll. Power from the'wheel may be used toslowly advance the rig or machine along the levee as the constructionyWork proceeds'l A telescopic joint in the pipeline. back of the nozzle,

actie-,eee

permits this advance of the wheel over the fill during pumpingoperations.

The invention may be better understood by referring to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation view of an embodiment of this inventiondisclosing the relation of the discharge nozzle and the impulse buckets;

Fig. 2 is a section view of the nozzle control apparatus, of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a View illustrating the flow conditions prevailing when thenozzle is in a position to one side of its central position and theperipheral velocity of the wheel is less than one-half the velocity ofthe fluid mixture as ity leaves the. nozzle; and

Fig. 5 illustrates the apparatus building a typical levee.

In Fig. l, the pipeline I is a conventional discharge line coming from ahydraulic dredge customarily used for this class of work. This line isconnected to a telescopic joint 2 comprising an inner section 3 and anouter section 4. The inner section is preferably of substantially thesame diameter as the pipeline I. A flexible seal 6 is provided to permitthe outer section ll to slide over inner section 3 without leakage. Aplurality of guides 1 are attached to thev outside and near the end ofthe inner section 3. A similar set of guides are attached to the insideand near the end of the outer section These guides center the two pipesections and remove the Weight from the seal 6. This iiexible jointenables the levee building machine to move along the top ofv thecompleted Work as the ll progresses. in practice, the, length of thistelescopic joint 2 is about fty feet. The rear end is supported by thepipeline I which in turn is supported on top of the levee byconventional means, not shown. The outer section 4 is secured to thedeck of the machine by clamps 8. The use of this joint is very importantin order to realize the maximum economic advantage of this invention.Its use permits a steady deposit of ll over a fiftyfoot length of leveewithout the loss of any time for trestle building or moving machinery.

A nozzle 5 is attached to the reduced discharge end of outer section 4by means of a flexible joint IU, better shown in Figs. 3 and, 4. Joint Iis of conventional construction and permits lateral and verticalmovement of nozzle by means shown in Fig. 2. This directs the ud mixtureangularly from its central position to assist in controlling the depositof the udmixture in different areas across the surface of the. fill. Themodus operandi of this nozzle adjustment will be described inA moredetail later in connection with the descriptionk of Figs. 2 and 4. Thenath, of the fluid mixture shown in Fig. 1 is the normal path that wouldbe taken if this invention were not used. Ity should` be noted that themixture would strike the fill at substantially they same particlevelocity it had when it left nozzleY 9. This invention eliminates thedestructive condition due to this high particle Velocity.y

An impulse wheel II is mounted in line `with the discharge end of thenozzle 9. This Wheel is preferably of the type commonly known as aPelton Wheel and is usually used to develop power from relatively small,high velocity water jets. This wheel carries a plurality of buckets I2about its periphery. These may be either of the Pelton or of the Dobletype or they may be a modification thereof. Preferably, they are amodified Doble bucket without the splitter commonly used to divide thewater jet into two parts. They thus have a smooth concave inner surfacethroughout. For maintenance reasons, these buckets are mounted toindividual spokes I3 by bolts I4. The rest of the wheel construction isconventional and obvious from the drawing and requires no specificdetailed description. The spokes radiate from hubs I5, better shown inFig. 3 which, in turn.. are keyed to a shaft I6. Shaft I6 is supportedby bearings I1 at the outer ends of a pair of trusses each comprisingstruts I8 and I9. Shaft IE is secured against thrust motion by a pair ofthrust collars 2G. The trusses are joined with additional truss members2| and 22 which are. secured to the deck of the machine.

A brake shaft 23 is mounted in bearing blocks near the upper ends of thetruss members 22 as shown in both Figs. 1 and 3. A brake drum 24 issecured to one end of this shaft and the sprocket 25 is secured to theopposite end. A Similar sprocket 25 is secured to shaft I6 and a chain 2connects these two shafts. A suitable brake.V mechanism 2e ofconventional design engages brake drum 2li to apply any desiredmechanical load to shaft 23. It will be evident that as impulse wheel iIis driven by the impulses received by the discharging fluid mixture fromnozzle 8, shaft 23 will be driven through sprockets 25, 26 and chain2'?. t is equally evident that any other mechanical linkage may beemployed in place of the chain and sprocket, for example, bevel gearingand connecting shaft. Also, in practice, itr is preferred that thisentire drive be enclosed in a suitable casing to exclude the solidmatter of the fluid mixture. This is not shown for the sake of claritybut is quite conventional.

Referring now to both Figs. 1 and 2, it Will be noted that nozzle 9 issupported in yoke 29. The yoke 29 is given a lateral movement by a handwheel Sil and associated gear and screw mechanism to move nozzle e toeither side of its central position shown in Fig. 3. This movement islimited in its travel so that the discharge must always be caught bysome portion of the buckets. I2 as illustrated by the fluid flow in Fig.4. If the center of the stream is directed to the centers of thevbuckets, the reverse flow Will divide in sub' stantially equal parts oneither side of the center line of the bucket and nozzle as in the vusualpractice with Pelton power wheels. It is a well known property of Peltonpower wheels that the particle velocity of the return flow relative tothe buckets is always approximately equal to the ve* locity of theinflow, also relative to the buckets. This, of course, neglects theeffect of friction which disperses the return flow and slightly lowersits return Velocity. The absolute velocity of the return flow is,therefore, approximately equal to the difference between the absolutevelocity of the flow from the nozzle and twice the bucket velocity. Itis evident from this that if the buckets are moving with a peripheralvelocity of onehalf that of the nozzle discharge, the absolute velocityof the reverse flow is zero and the fluid mixture will simply drop tothe fill. In practice, the bucket velocity is controlled by the brakemechanism 28 so as to give any desired absolute return flow velocity toaid in depositing the fluid mixture over different areas of the fill. Inany case, this invention makes it possible for the absolute particlevelocity of the return flow to be very slow compared with the dischargevelocity from the nozzle so that washing away of the deposited ll issubstantially eliminated. The water easily separates from the solidmatter and ilows off freely ,over a large area. Thus,` it is seen thatthe principle of the` Pelton impulse wheel is uniquely employed to solvea very troublesome problem of long standing in the hydraulic leveebuilding art.

, If the nozzle is moved laterally in one direc.- tion, as seen in Fig.4,.the.re'turn flow will no longer be equally divided butY will leavethe buckets in a direction opposite from the deflection of the nozzle.The yuse of buckets with a continuously smooth curve concave surfacerenders this control by the nozzle particularly .eiective Itis thus seenthatv the discharge can be controlled in its placement fore and aft bythe brake mechanism and laterally by the lateral movement of the nozzle.Some vertical movement of the nozzle will also be providedfor correctingchanges in ow velocity. The mechanism for this is conventional withPelton wheels but a preferred mechanism adapted to lthepractice of thisinvention is shown in Figs. l and 2. It comprises a clamp 31 securedaround nozzle 9, the upper end of which is attached to a screw and handwheel mechanism 38 installed in the top oi the yoke 29. It is to beunderstood that by turning the hand wheel, nozzle 9 is raised or loweredas required. 1

. Asthe fill progresses and the desired level is reached, the machinevcan be driven forward by power4 derived from the impulse wheel. This isobtained through a clutch and gear mechanism 3| of conventional design.This mechanism is equipped with a clutch controlled by clutch lever 32,a selective gear mechanism controlled by shift lever 33 and a variablespeed drive under control of hand wheel 34. Power is taken from shaft 23which passes through the housing` of mechanism 3|'. Power is deliveredby way of drive shaft 35 to the Caterpillar treads 3B, 35. ThisCaterpillar drive and associated steering mechanism are the same as arecustomarily used with such drives and hence theirY details are not shownor describedin.,f .urther detail. When the .flow and solid'matter'content' remain approximately constant, the'speed control 34 canbefadjusted to causethe machine to slowly creep along at just the rightspeed torkeep up with the fill. As'tlle machine advances, the telescopicjoint 2 extends so as to maintain a continuous flow. When this joint hasreached its limit of extension, it is disconnected from pipeline I andadditional sections of pipeline are inserted.

The levee illustrated in Fig. 5 is typical of the type of ll made by themachine of this invention. The machine is shown centered on the top of aiillV which may have a width of twentyfour feet. Thus the lateralmovement of the nozzle and the braking action jointly control thedeposit of approximately twelve feet on either side. Of course, thesedimensions are to be considered illustrative only and are in no senserestrictive of the levee dimensions that can be built by the machine ofthis invention.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that this inventionhas made a unique use of the Pelton impulse wheel principle quitedifferent from its usual use as a power source. It is also seen thatthis machine provides means for absorbing substantially all the dynamicenergy of the flow which is so destructive of the previously depositedll and of retaining levees, thereby overcoming a major diflculty withhydraulically operated levee building machines. It disperses the ow ofmixture over a wide area, permitting the solids to separate from thewater and the excess water to now slowly and evenly over the sides ofthe iill without destructive washing; By regulating the speed of themachine the desired amount ofthe iill can be deposited irrespective ofthe condition of the terrain. The telescopic joint permits continuousadvance of the machine while pumping operations are under way, therebyeliminating expensive stoppages while advancing the machine. This is animportant economic feature. The flexible vnozzle permits anevenrdistribution of the materialin the fill by controlling thedirection of the flow to the buckets ofthe impulse wheel. The brakingmechanism, which regulates the speed of the wheel, gives fore and aftcontrol of the deposit so that the ll may be placed anywhere fromseveral feetrfore of the wheel to any location between the wheeland therig of the machine. The machine and operator are protected from thereturn flow by a baffle plate 39 mounted as indicated in Fig. 1. Y

A variety of modifications can be made to many of the parts of thismachine without departing from the inventive concept. For example, thebuckets used need have no particularly critical shape. `Theonesillustrated are preferred because they provide excellent controlover the reverse ovv rfrom the buckets to the fill. Instead of using aCaterpillar drive, the machine can be propelled by a conventionalwalking beam mechanism or any other suitable conventional propellingmechanism. To move the machine about when the pipeline is disconnectedor when there is no new, an auxiliary engine, not shown, is

g mounted on the rig and coupled mechanically tov the gear mechanism 3|.

This auxiliary engine is also used in cases of slow flow insufficient toprovide power to drive the machine and also provide the controlnecessary to manage the deposit of the ll. The brake may be of any typeand may include an electric generator and resistive load as is sometimesused for braking purposes. The invention has been illustrated byshowing` the buckets mounted on a wheel. This is the preferredarrangement but it is obvious that the buckets could be mounted on acontinuous chain traveling over two or more sprockets.

What is claimed is: Y

"1. In a hydraulic levee building machine for constructing a levee fromthe fluid mixture discharged from a hydraulic dredge pump, thecombination of a discharge nozzle including means for connection to thehydraulic dredge pump, an impulse wheel having a plurality of bucketsmounted on the periphery thereof, said wheel being rotatably supportedopposite said nozzle with the discharge direction of the nozzlesubstantially tangent to the circular path dened by the buckets, wherebythe buckets receive the iiuid mixture and cause rotation of the wheel,and a brake mechanically connected to said wheel for applying amechanical load to said wheel to control its speed.

2. In a hydraulic levee building machine for constructing a levee fromthe iiuid mixture discharged from a hydraulic dredge pump, thecombination of a discharge nozzle including means for connection to thehydraulic dredge pump, a rotatable impulse wheel having a plurality ofbuckets mounted on the periphery thereof, a rig for supporting saidnozzle and said wheel with the discharge direction of the nozzlesubstantially tangent to the circular path defined by the buckets,whereby the buckets receive the fluid mixture and cause rotation of saidwheel, a propelling mechanism for propelling the rig, a mechanicalcoupling meansfor coupling the wheel to thepropelling mechanism wherebypower from the wheel may be used to propel the rig; as. the iiuidmixture is discharged, and' a brake mechanically coupled to said wheelfor applying a mechanical load to the wheel to absorb. suffcientpowerto. control theA speedg of the Wheel.

'3. A, levee buildingmachine for constructing a levee from the fluidimixture discharged from a hydraulic dredge pump, saidy machinecomprising a discharge nozzle including means for connect'- ing` ittothe pump, an impulse wheel with a plurality of buckets about theperiphery thereof', meansv supporting said' impulse wheel directly inline with said nozzle 'so as to receive the discharge of the fluid.mixture against its buckets whereby the wheel is rotated, and a brakingmeans con nectedto said wheel to apply a mechanical load to the wheel,whereby the particle velocity of the fluid` mixture asit leaves thewheel may be re'- duced without lowering its volume rate of flow. 4. Thecombination of claim 1 wherein said nozzle is angularly adjustable,whereby the iiuid mixtureis caused to discharge-against said wheel from`diiierent angular directions se that thev mixture may be deposited overselected areas of the levee under construction.

5. The combination of claim l' and a means for advancing the machine.along the levee whilethe uid mixture is being deposited.

6. The combination of claim 2 with means incluclingV a telescopic jointfor connecting the nozzlevtora pipeline whereby said rig may advancecontinuously wh-ile the iiuid mixture is being delivered through thepipeline to the nozzle andv impulse wheel.

'7. The combination of claimY 2 wherein said: propelling mechanismcomprisesa Caterpillar tread.

8. The` combination of claim 3 where-in the nozzle is` angularlyadjustable to cause the fluidmixture to discharge aga-inst saidk bucketsfrom, different angular directions whereby the mixture may be depositedover selected areasr of the levee surface;

9. A levee buildingmachine comprising; a discharge nozzle fordischarging a iiuidV mixture, means including a telescopic joint forconnecting the nozzle to a pipeline carrying the uid mixture from ahydraulic dredging machine, an. impulse wheel with a pluralityv orbuckets" about the pe riphery thereof', meansincluding a rig forsupporting said impulse Wheel tov receive the dise' charge of the uidlmixture from the nozzle and against said buckets whereby the wheel isrotated, a. propelling mechanism for propelling the rig, a mechanicalcoupling meansv for coupling the wheel to, the propelling mechanismwhereby power from the. wheel may be used. to propel the rig, and abraking means. adapted' to applyl an adjustable mechanical load to thewheel.

1:01 The combination of' claim 2. wherein said mechanical coupling meansincludes. a variable speed control forv adjusting the speed of thepropelling mechanism relative to the speed ofthe Wheel.

11. The combination of claim 9l wherein said mechanical coupling meansincludes a variable speed control for adjustingl the speed of the pro-Vpelling mechanism relative to: the speed' of' the` wheel.

12. In a hydraulic material handling machine for handling a fluidmixture of liquid and solid` particlesy the combi-nation of a pluralityof movable buckets eachl having a concave surface, a discharge tube fordelivering andi discharging the fluid mixture, means supporting thebuckets and the tube so. that the discharged Huid mixture is receivedrby the concave surfaces of the bucketswhereby the buckets are moved, andmeans for applying a mechanical load toA said; buckets to control theirvelocity, whereby the absolute par-- ticle velocity of the fluid mixtureisf substantially reduced as it leaves thebuckets.

13. The combination of claim 112 and a means for angularl-yadjustingthenozzle so that the fluid mixture is received by said bucketsfrom different angular directions across their concave surfaces.

FRANK o. Prozmson.V

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,193,845 Troyanosk g Aug. 8, 1916 2,408,008 Tipton v Sept.24, 1946

